Wal-Mart announced yesterday that its customers will again be able to use MasterCard signature debit cards at all store locations, effective immediately. The announcement follows a long dispute with MasterCard over transaction fees, which have been higher for the signature-based cards than for cards that use a personal identification number (PIN).
Wal-Mart also will continue to accept all other MasterCard payment products, including credit, PIN debit, and corporate cards, as it has since the dispute began last February and it stopped taking the signature-based debit cards.
Details of the agreement with MasterCard were not revealed; it is not known whether the card company agreed to reduce transaction fees.
It was just last year that Wal-Mart and other retailers got a $2 billion settlement from Visa and $1 billion from MasterCard in a lawsuit over transaction fees.
Wal-Mart also will continue to accept all other MasterCard payment products, including credit, PIN debit, and corporate cards, as it has since the dispute began last February and it stopped taking the signature-based debit cards.
Details of the agreement with MasterCard were not revealed; it is not known whether the card company agreed to reduce transaction fees.
It was just last year that Wal-Mart and other retailers got a $2 billion settlement from Visa and $1 billion from MasterCard in a lawsuit over transaction fees.
- KC's View:
-
While the two sides may not be revealing the terms of the resolution, you have to bet that Wal-Mart came out on top.
What we don’t yet know, because the two sides aren’t talking, is whether the consumer does better because of the agreement or will continue to be victimized by card companies that charge criminally high rates.
